King Charles faces new headache as key meeting ‘confirms’ major claims

King Charles’s troubles don’t seem to be ending any time soon as the drama surrounding his beloved Highgrove estate doesn’t seem to be going way.

Over the past three years, 11 of the 12 gardeners quit Highgrove, including the head gardener and his deputy, citing a list of grievances relating to their employer.

The Highgrove Gardens, which are managed by the King’s Foundation, were accused of overworking staff with trivial demands from the King. They employees complained about being “underpaid” while being micromanaged in a toxic work environment.

However, this is not the first time Highgrove ruffled feathers. In one of the encounters quoted by royal author Tom Bower seemingly confirmed one crucial allegation made by the former staffers, via DailyMail.

Sir Roy Strong, art-historian, writer and landscape designer, was summoned by Charles at Highgrove for some expertise.

“Roy Strong was summoned to advise on the cultivation of hedges. He spent days with his own gardener perfecting his ideas,” Bower wrote.

“At the end he submitted his employee’s bill for £1,000 – and was never asked to return, or even thanked. Strong had personally inscribed a copy of his book on gardening to Charles, but it was left in a waiting room rather than included in the prince's library,” he continued.

“‘He's shocked by the sight of an invoice,’ Strong noted. ‘So he likes people who don’t charge for their services.’”

The report revealed that Sir Roy was not the only gardening expert who Charles allegedly asked for unpaid advice and on other occasions unpaid labour.

Around 20 artists were recruited to paint two or three flowers every day for “free”. Some artists had outright rejected the demand since they were not going to be paid for it.

Jonathan Heale, a woodcut artist, was expected to “donate” his work as a “gift”, Meanwhile, painter Lucian Freud snubbed Charles when asked to “exchange” artwork.

“I don't want one of your rotten paintings,” Freud had said.

The Sunday Times had detailed the complaints from the former staffer, who found out that they were earning minimum wage, which led to the exodus of staff.